Monthly Archives: December 2009

MANILA, Philippines – The outlook for overseas employment opportunities in 2010 is bleak with international labor markets virtually closed because most economies are still hurting from the onslaught of the global financial crisis.

MANILA, Philippines – Beneficiaries of remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are turning to savings and investments to survive the uncertainty brought about by the global financial crisis, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.

MANILA, Philippines – About 1,000 workers might lose their jobs this Christmas if the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) allows a Malaysian-backed company to take over the operations of the Philippine National Construction Corporation (PNCC).

HUMAN RIGHTS: Have officials of the Commission on Human Rights and their foreign guests gone on vacation after that tiring trip to Maguindanao to register their concern for the massacre victims in Ampatuan country?

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Health (DOH) today released a new Administrative Order (AO) on the subject “Adopting New Policies and Protocol on Essential Newborn Care (ENC),” which details specific policies and principles to follow for all health care providers involved in newborn health care.

DUE to the extent of the global economic crisis and the continued increase in the Philippine labor force, the country may experience a continued increase in the number of underemployed and unemployed until the end of 2010, according to local economists.

Nearly 40 per cent of all jobs worldwide are in high carbon intensive sectors. If we want to arrest climate change, this will inevitably create an employment challenge as workers will have to move to different jobs and sectors. And it raises the question to what extent “green” policies can produce a double dividend, in…

Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Esperanza Cabral has lauded the Supreme Court (SC) under the stewardship of Chief Justice Reynato Puno for approving the Revised Rules on Children in Conflict with the Law (CICL) based on the recommendations of the subcommittee on Rules of Procedures for Family Courts.

SM Prime Holdings Inc. has allotted P180 million to build 36 lounge facilities designed to attract overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their families to SM Supermalls nationwide.

TORONTO—The federal government announced steps Saturday to better safeguard foreign caregivers from abuse and exploitation, but opposition critics say the changes Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is proposing won’t provide full protection, the Canadian Press reported.

Seeking to better enable Philippine programmers to develop software to penetrate world markets, IBM Corp. formally opened recently its IBM Innovation Center at the UP-Ayala Technopark in Diliman, Quezon City; it is Big Blue’s 40th globally and third in Southeast Asia.

Assessing health risks in the workplace Next to their homes, most people spend much of their time in the office—enough reason to make the workplace a safe environment as possible.

Decisions, orders or resolutions by the secretary of the Department of Justice are not open to appeal, and petitions to review them may not be filed before the Office of the President, according to a Supreme Court ruling.

MANILA, Philippines – The season of gift-giving has shoppers slowly filling bazaars and malls by the thousands. But for those who are digitally savvy, the convenience of online shopping has been saving them effort, money, and time.

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – Mindanao will be in big trouble in the next five years if the shrinking of the reserve capacity of the Mindanao power grid remains unchecked.

WASHINGTON DC, United States—The global economy that was headed for an abyss at the start of 2009 now appears in recovery, but remains fragile and scarred by the worst crisis in decades.

STARTING last week, representatives to the United Nations Climate Conference in Copenhagen started to wrestle with the challenge of climate change. At about the same time, influential actors in the World Trade Organization Seventh Ministerial Conference taking place in Geneva are trying to push for a conclusion to the nine-year-old Doha Round of trade negotiations. …

WE CALL ATTENTION to an important but under-recognized issue in the climate change negotiations: The mitigation potential of recycling and waste reduction and the threat posed by false “waste-to-energy” solutions such as incinerators and landfill gas systems.

RINA JIMENEZ-DAVID WROTE in her Dec. 2 column (“Giving migrant workers a voice”) that she heard a group of women OFWs complaining, over dzMM, that their repatriation from Dubai were delayed by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).

MANILA, Philippines — Recruitment agencies warned the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) against making statements about the expected rise in remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in countries where the Philippine government has been negotiating for more job opportunities for them.

COPENHAGEN – Environment ministers haggled behind closed doors in their first major get-together of the UN climate summit, as they were warned Sunday of the catastrophic consequences of failure to reach a deal.

LONDON: The world’s equity, commodity and exchange markets bounced back in 2009 after a vertiginous plunge, but analysts warn 2010 may be full of danger, with doubts over the rhythm and vigor of the recovery.

Philippine and Jordanian labor officials will soon sign an agreement that seeks to address issues arising from the employment of overseas Filipino workers in Jordan.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Just in time for Christmas, the fragile economic recovery is showing signs of strengthening: Consumers are spending, companies are rebuilding stockpiles and Chinese exports are mounting a comeback.

MANILA, Philippines – The Congressional Planning and Budget Department (CPBD), the think-tank of the House of Representatives said it is maintaining its revised economic growth forecast for the year despite the weaker-than-expected 0.8-percent economic growth for the third quarter.

MANILA, Philippines – Liberal Party (LP) presidential candidate Sen. Benigno Aquino III’s lead in opinion polls has “significantly dropped” to single-digit levels while Lakas-Kampi-CMD standard-bearer Gilberto Teodoro Jr. surged to a double-digit mark for the first time since entering the race, according to results of the first survey taken after the Dec. 1 deadline for…

CALIFORNIA, United States—The Christmas season is a time for sharing but not for an immigrant elderly couple in California. Having endured more than three decades of abuse from her husband, Rosa finally made a decision this Christmas to leave their conjugal home.

ILOILO CITY—A government job training agency received at least P2.4 billion from 2006-2008, but achieved very little in generating employment, the Commission on Audit (COA) said in a report.

COPENHAGEN – It is now generally agreed that the developed countries will have to make a substantial financial contribution to enable the developing world to deal with climate change. Funds are needed to invest in new low-carbon energy sources, reforestation and protection of rain forests, land-use changes, and adaptation and mitigation. But there is no…

ABU DHABI—When you arrive at this oil-rich nation’s swanky airports, look up at the massive glass skyscrapers and walk into luxury hotels, you won’t be mistaken if you think Filipino hands helped make all this progress possible.